Nikolaes Craen

(fl. 1504)

Franco-Flemish composer. His varied career as a choirmaster caused him to travel wideIy around northern Italy, and he held posts at the Accademia dello Spirito Santo, Ferrara, and the cathedrals of Novara and Milan. He was a most inventive church composer and a pioneer of the small concertato motet, in which he shows both contrapuntal dexterity and melodic charm. Apart from motets, he wrote psalms and Masses and one volume of madrigals.